mother tongue

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"So I usually switch between my mother tongue, which is Marathi, and English," she said.

From BBC • Apr. 25, 2026

He dropped his English name, James, and resolved to write only in the language of the Kikuyu people, his mother tongue.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 23, 2025

It just created this real, almost, like, subconscious intimacy because it’s the mother tongue.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2025

As the young children enthusiastically sang out phrases, Esau interjected occasionally to correct their pronunciation of the distinct sounds and deep clicks of her mother tongue, of which she is the last first-language speaker.

From Barron's • Oct. 10, 2025

That poet she met at Lucinda's party the night before argued that no matter how much of it one lost, in the midst of some profound emotion, one would revert to one's mother tongue.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez